Quantitative Investment Management LLC Has $3.66 Million Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Quantitative Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1,008.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,670 shares during the quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in Booking by 2,860.8% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,238,000 after buying an additional 12,130 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $361,463,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,663.9% during the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,115,000 after buying an additional 27,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,396,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.70, for a total value of $206,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,100,500. This represents a 6.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.45.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $205.63 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $226.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $55.40 earnings per share. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.